Marilis Santos is a well-known and loved teacher here at Carmel. She is the Spanish II teacher, but her impact and story reaches far beyond the walls of her classroom. 

Santos was born in Puerto Rico and grew up there near the mountains. While growing up, she enjoyed the hospitality of the people of Puerto Rico. She stated, “The people there are like family. If you’re my neighbor or I met you yesterday, you’re family.” The culture of her home country is bright and welcoming, which is reflected in how she runs her own classroom. She further explained how the food in Puerto Rico was another highlight from home. Not only is it delicious, but it reflects the heritage of the people, and again, the hospitality that is given out so freely when in Puerto Rico. Santos remembers her childhood fondly, living in a richly beautiful place with the mountain landscape enveloping her.

Santos grew up with two brothers, one of whom still lives in Puerto Rico as a company manager, while the other brother lives in North Carolina alongside Santos. She also grew up with plenty of cousins. She enjoyed growing up with a large family that was full of life and energy. They are spread out everywhere over America and even Spain now!

Santos and her family moved to America because they were looking for financial stability. She was surprised by the respect of the people here as she noticed that people “respect the police officers and they respect the community. That’s what I enjoy, the peace, but most importantly, the respect.” Santos also mentioned how she enjoys the weather and scenery of North Carolina as the climate in Puerto Rico is always tropical. She especially loves the fall, with all of its changing leaves and vast array of colors.

Santos now has a family of her own that is continually growing and expanding. She met her husband in college while they both attended The University of Puerto Rico. He was studying to be an engineer and she was in the science department. They had a mutual friend that introduced them, and the rest of their story is history.

Santos has three children and two dogs. Her oldest child, Neythan Giovanni, is 26 years old. He works for medics and is a writer. He also had his first child, Lydia, last year. This is Santos’s first grandchild! Her second-born child is Lyzmari, 24, who was recently married and moved to Tennessee with her husband! She went to UNC Charlotte where she studied communication and specifically focused on child psychology. She used to teach in the preschool at Carmel. Santos’s  youngest daughter, Neilyz, graduated high school last year and currently works at Carmel in the after-school department. Santos also has two dogs that she considers her family as well. One Siberian Husky and one Siberian Husky and pitbull mix.

Santos loves to read, walk her dogs and, most importantly, spend time with her family. She enjoys the quality time that she gets to spend with them, and she sets aside time to go do intentional activities with them. 

A fun fact about Santos is that she is very passionate about dancing. She used to dream of becoming a dancer when she was a little girl. This passion also impacts her love for singing and worship. Santos said, “Since I was little, my father used to take me just to see the people dancing because I used to love that… I love to dance, I love to sing.”

Santos’s entry to teaching was a little rocky as she originally went to college to study science but was forced to finish her bachelor’s degree in teaching. She quickly fell in love with teaching and the students that she got to communicate with every day. She knows it is the path that God had always intended for her to follow. Her favorite part of teaching is “the relationship with all [her] students.” She enjoys the family-feeling that is inspired through her role as a teacher.

She decided to teach high schoolers specifically to be able to have deeper conversations while also loving the energy the high schoolers bring to the classroom environment. She takes pride in watching her students grow within their spanish speaking abilities and outside of her classroom. She knows that her impact reaches far wider than her simply teaching them a new language, and she hopes that all she does reflects and points her students back to the goodness of God.

Connelly Yaggi, current junior her at Carmel, had Santos her freshman year. Though Yaggi had some background in Spanish prior to her class, she credits much of her grammatical knowledge and ability to Santos. She stated that she was in a small class and “Mrs. Santos created a family for our class. It was a comfortable and fun learning environment that I appreciated.”

Ailene Vayas, the upper level Spanish teacher at Carmel, has been teaching and friends with Santos for the past eight years! She states that what she loves the most about Santos is how “she is so sweet and kind. She is always willing to help and always has a genuine response.” Señora Santos has left an impact on her students, her colleagues, her friends and her family that ripples into eternity. She is known for her sweet-neature, her fun-loving class and her deep devotion to the Lord and his will in her life.